When It's Right

by Victoria Denault

  “His doctor gave the okay,” Jude explains. “I came back to get you so you could join us.”

  Oh, shit. I fake a yawn. A big one. He laughs. “Sorry. It’s been one hell of a day. I think I need to pass on dinner with you guys.”

  He makes a face. “It’s five o’clock, Sadie. You’re going to go home and go to bed?”

  “Maybe.”

  He rolls his eyes and reaches out and tugs on my arm. “Come on. Dad loves it when we’re all together.”

  “I’ll meet you there.”

  “Why? Everyone is waiting for us in the parking lot.”

  Shit. Shit. Shit. “The whole family is in the parking lot?”

  He nods and tilts his head, his eyes narrowing. He’s beginning to figure out I’m internally freaking out. So I do the only thing I can think of doing and relent. “Let’s go then.”

  As we walk toward the doors, I dig my phone out of my purse and start to text Griffin to cancel and apologize profusely, but I know in my soul it’s too late. He’s probably already in the parking lot, and this is about to turn into a family reveal, whether I like it or not. My family is at the other end of the parking lot, waiting by the entrance to the diner. And then I see Griffin’s Range Rover a few feet to my left. He’s already stepping out of it—and he’s carrying roses. A dozen bright, multicolored roses.

  Our eyes meet, and he sees the panic in mine. He glances over at Jude and starts to get back in his car, but it’s too late. “Sully?” Jude calls out, stunned. Griffin freezes and slowly turns back toward us. The smile on his face is strained.

  “Hey, Braddock!” He waves, and I want to scream when Jude starts toward Griffin instead of continuing toward where our family is waiting…and watching.

  “You here to visit someone?” Jude asks.

  “Ah…sort of.” His eyes slip over to me. He smiles, and this one isn’t strained. “Hi, Sadie.”

  “Hi, Griffin,” I reply and lift my hand to my face and pretend to cough when Jude glances over at me, because I can’t seem to make my face stop smiling.

  “Nice flowers.” Jude motions toward the unbelievably beautiful roses. Each one is a kaleidoscope of colors.

  “Thanks.” Griffin’s mahogany eyes find mine again. “Anyway, I should be going, I think.”

  I nod and mouth the words “I’m sorry,” because Jude isn’t looking at me.

  “Aren’t you here to give those to someone?” Jude asks, and then he glances at me with his “this dude is insane” look. I cringe inwardly.

  “Coach Sully?” Eli calls, and I turn to see him walking toward us. In fact, everyone is coming toward us. It’s a wall of Braddocks marching toward us, sealing my doom.

  “Crap,” Griffin hisses under his breath, and I bite my lip to keep from laughing. This isn’t funny. At all. I am so not ready for this with the emotional week I’ve had and the stress of knowing my family is about to find out about Griffin and me is clearly making me borderline hysterical. “Hey, Casco.”

  “Sully as in the goalie coach?” I hear Winnie ask as they all stop beside me. “Oh! It is! This is going to get good.”

  I glare at her over my shoulder, but no one notices, because Jude and Eli are busy introducing Griffin to everyone. And Winnie is too busy checking him out—blatantly. She gives me an approving nod and I glare back, annoyed. She is not even trying to cover this up.

  “Lovely roses,” my mom comments as she shakes Griffin’s hand. “I’ve never seen ones like that before.”

  “They’re called unicorn roses,” Griffin explains.

  “They are not!” I blurt out in disbelief.

  “They are.”

  I burst out laughing, and he joins me. No one else is in on the joke, so they’re all staring at us, confused.

  “Griffin came here to see me,” I finally confess.

  He hands me the roses and steps forward and kisses my cheek. My rowdy family is abnormally quiet.

  Eli is the first to break out of it, snapping his fingers. “Now it makes sense! I knew something was up with the way you were asking me about the Braddocks on the road trip!”

  “Wait…what?”

  “I…umm…” Griffin looks like cornered prey.

  “Well, we should let you go,” my mom says, trying to give the poor guy an exit from the insanity.

  “Where are you guys going?” Jude asks like an overprotective dad. I frown at him.

  “To a sex club,” I snark.

  “What? No,” Griffin breaks in.

  “Well, if you don’t have set plans,” my dad says, and I hold my breath, “why don’t you both join us for dinner?”

  His words are so slurred. He tried to say them slowly, but I’m worried Griffin won’t understand because he’s not used to it. I open my mouth to repeat his offer, but to my surprise and relief, Griffin doesn’t need a translator. “I’d love to join you all…if you’re sure it’s okay.”

  “It’s more than okay,” Winnie replies, grinning brightly, and I reach out and shove her.

  An hour later I’ve barely touched my steak sandwich and I want another Perrier, but the waitress is ignoring me, just like everyone else. No one can take their eyes off Griffin. I’m so stressed out about it, my stomach is in knots. My anxiety isn’t over how weird this is or how badly it’s going—it’s over the fact that it isn’t weird and it’s not going badly at all. My whole family loves him. And Griffin fits. I don’t know how else to explain it. He just fits. The teasing, the jokes, the way we all talk at each other like we’re re-enacting an episode of the Gilmore Girls, none of it seems to faze him. In fact, he somehow gets more charming and funny, like his personality feeds off this bunch of lunatics. I’m in awe. Blissful awe.

  “So growing up in Minnesota sounds cold,” Winnie tells Griffin.

  “Says the Canadian,” Griffin replies with a chuckle.

  “Touché,” Winnie says, smiling at him and then at me. And I can’t help but smile back, because I love that he’s already comfortable enough to joke around with her.

  “Sadie mentioned you have a daughter,” my dad says, slowly but clearly.

  “Charlie. She’s six and nothing short of amazing.” I love the way he looks when he talks about his daughter. It’s equal parts sweet and sexy and makes my heart swell and my ovaries tingle.

  “Daughters are the best,” my mom says with a wistful smile.

  “Umm…excuse me.” Jude clears his throat. “I’m right here.”

  Everyone laughs.

  “You actually have a lot in common with my daughter,” Griffin says, turning his gaze to Jude, who is sitting across from him. “She stuffed a raisin up her nose the other day. It’s not exactly Lego, but—”

  Dixie lets out a whoop that has other customers looking over at us. She turns her eyes to me as Jude groans and my parents laugh. “You told him about the Lego! That’s awesome!”

  “Not awesome!” Jude grumbles and glances up at Griffin. “You look well adjusted and happy. I assume you don’t have sisters.”

  Griffin laughs. “One brother.”

  “Is he in Minnesota?” Winnie asks.

  “He’s here in San Francisco,” Griffin says. I love the proud smile that overtakes his face as he talks about his sibling. “He moved here after law school because his wife’s from the area. It’s been great having him nearby, and Charlie adores him.”

  “See?” Mom says, looking over at my sisters and me. “Some people actually like their brothers.”

  The table erupts in laughter again. I glance over at my dad, and he gives me a wink. It’s a wink of approval, and it makes me grin. Ten minutes later, when we’re back in the parking lot and Mom is wheeling Dad back to his room, and my sisters and Zoey are still fawning all over Griffin, Jude pulls me aside. I face him and want to cross my arms, but it would ruin the bouquet of unicorn roses in my hand, so I settle on a scowl instead. I’m hoping it says “back off,” but I know even if it does, he won’t.

  “Don’t get all bitchy about sharing the L
ego incident with him,” I warn him before he can speak. “He was feeling like a bad dad, and I wanted to make him feel better.”

  “I don’t care about the Lego. I want to know when the hell were you going to tell me you’re dating my coach?” he demands, not angry but definitely annoyed.

  “Eli’s coach,” I correct. “And it was one date.”

  “That ended with your clothes on inside out and backward,” Jude reminds me. When I flip him my middle finger, directly in front of his pretty-boy face, he relents. “Not that there is anything wrong with that. You know me, I’m all about removing clothes on a first date. But clearly there’s more to it than instant gratification if he’s here again. With roses.”

  I look at the roses, remember the name and smile, which makes Jude’s eyes widen in horror, so I bite it back and try to frown. It doesn’t work, and I’m fairly certain I now look like I’m having some kind of conniption. “It’s no big deal.”

  “I don’t know a single hockey player who has ever given roses to a No Big Deal,” Jude proclaims.

  “Oh, for crying out loud, you better knock Zoey up again so you can get a girl and play daddy to her,” I snark and turn to walk away. “Because I’m not letting you do it to me.”

  I feel his hand on my arm. Winnie is half watching us from a few yards away where she’s standing with Eli, Dixie, and Griffin. Luckily, Griffin isn’t paying attention. He’s listening to something Dixie is talking about. I let Jude turn me back around. He looks less Mad Dad now and more Concerned Friend. “I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m just saying be careful,” he says, his voice softer. “You’re the one who told me that you feel like you’ve got nothing left to give, and the circumstances that made you feel that way haven’t changed.”

  “I know.” He’s right. I just…don’t care. No, wait, I do care. I just can’t talk myself out of this thing with Griffin.

  “I would just hate for him to get hurt,” Jude says quietly, and I freeze. Wait a minute…His concern is for Griffin.

  “He’s a big boy, and I’m hardly a man-eater, jackass,” I hiss indignantly.

  Jude laughs and grabs me by both shoulders, pulling me into a hug. “Sadie, I don’t mean it that way. I know you’d never purposely hurt a fly, let alone my coach.”

  “Eli’s coach.”

  He pulls back, keeping his hands on my shoulders. “He brought you roses. He looks at you like…like he’s not playing around. So don’t play around with him. If you really can’t be in something, don’t be in something. Get it? Especially with someone I work with, because I have to see him every day, and I don’t need the drama either right now.”

  I swallow. Hard. Leave it to Jude to throw all my fears and concerns in my face when I’d been doing a pretty decent job of ignoring them. He musses my hair like he used to do when I was a teenager, right after I’d spent a stupid amount of time in the bathroom styling it. I take a swing at him, purposely missing, just like I used to do then too. “Okay, they’re throwing punches,” Griffin remarks, his voice filled with worry. “Is this normal?”

  “Totally,” Dixie assures him as Jude and I keep swatting at each other as we rejoin the group. “You’ve played against him; didn’t you want to hit him?”

  Griffin smiles. It says everything. We all laugh—loudly. Jude looks nothing less than proud. “When you’re the best of the best, haters gonna hate.”

  “Isn’t Avery Westwood leading the league in scoring this season?” Winnie asks. “And Jordan Garrison has the most short-handed goals.”

  “And my brother has the most shoot-out goals in the league,” Eli adds.

  “And I think it’s Alex Larue who has the most penalty minutes,” Griffin informs us.

  Jude’s expression sours. “Stats mean nothing. I have more Cups than all those chumps. And the best wife and cutest kid.”

  “Well, there’s no arguing with that,” Zoey exclaims. “Now let’s get back to that cute kid. I’m sure my brother and Ned need a break.”

  Jude takes her hand in his, but before turning away, he looks Griffin in the eye. “You think I was a pain in the ass when you played me? If you play my sister, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  “Oh, he’s seen something,” Winnie remarks tartly. “Remember the wardrobe malfunction.”

  “Get back under your bridges, trolls!” I holler, exasperated, but everyone just laughs.

  “Winnie!” the voice, sharp with frustration, comes from behind me. I recognize it instantly, but am still shocked when I spin around and see Ty, Winnie’s boyfriend who lives in Toronto, standing there next to a cab driver with a suitcase next to him.

  “Ty?” Dixie says, because she can’t believe it either.

  He ignores her, and the rest of us, and walks over to Winnie. “You were supposed to pick me up at the airport.”

  “I am!” Winnie replies defensively. “Tomorrow, when your flight gets in.”

  Ty’s expression is the purest example of exasperation I have ever seen in my life. “Are you kidding me?”

  “I’m sorry,” she relents. “I honestly thought you were coming tomorrow. I wouldn’t leave you there on purpose. In my defense, I have a lot going on, Ty!”

  “Why the hell do you think I took time away from work to come here?” he snaps, and I glance over at Griffin. He looks as uncomfortable as I feel.

  I walk over to Ty and give him a hug. “Hey, buddy! It’s good to see you. Sorry about the mix-up.”

  “Thanks. Yeah, good to see you too, Sadie.” He hugs me back, but it’s lackluster, and his jaw is still clenched. “We can give you a lift back to the house. Is that okay, Griff?”

  “Yeah, I have a ton of room in the Rover,” Griffin agrees easily.

  “I’ll take them,” Jude volunteers. “You two have plans, and I won’t feel so bad about driving Zoey’s monster truck if it’s full of people and luggage.”

  “It’s a hybrid,” Zoey reminds him, rolling her eyes. “Drama queen.”

  “Come on.” Jude grabs Ty’s suitcase for him and waves goodbye to Griffin and me.

  Dixie and Eli head to her Mini, and Jude, Zoey, Winnie, and Ty walk to Zoey’s Lexus SUV. Griffin looks down at me when they’re all out of earshot. “Who was that?”

  “That was Ty. The love of Winnie’s life,” I say frankly, and he looks like I just told him the world was flat. “I know, right?”

  “I’m not here to judge,” he says and reaches for my hand that’s not holding the roses.

  “Sorry about all that,” I say as we walk to Griffin’s car. “I was hoping to wait a little while before releasing the family on you.”

  “They’re great,” he replies without an ounce of hesitation. “I kind of caught on that you were hiding this from them when I asked Eli how your dad was on our road trip. I just wasn’t sure why.”

  “Because they’re a lot,” I reply, and I feel a little guilty for some reason. “And I wasn’t sure if you wanted Jude and Eli to know, since you work with them. I was definitely going to ask you first. Also, I don’t know…I guess I just liked having something separate from the rest of my life, you know?”

  He thinks about that and then nods. He seems to genuinely get it, thankfully. He glances at the flowers in my hand. “I wanted to get you something because you said you’d had such a rough week, and I originally thought wildflowers, obviously. But they had these, and when the sales lady told me the name I couldn’t resist.”

  “Unicorn roses.” I laugh. As he opens the passenger door, I rock up on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek. My lips are still pressed to his cheek when he slowly turns his head, stubble grazing me, until our lips align. Then he wraps an arm around my waist, yanks me closer, and deepens the kiss.

  The kiss breaks, and I look up at him with glassy eyes. “Since my family hijacked the first part of our date, can I hijack the second part?

  He looks surprised but intrigued. “Why not? I didn’t have any solid plans.”

  I reluctantly leave his lips and climb into the SUV, and
he shuts the door for me. A second later he’s doing up his own seat belt and starting the engine. “Where to?”

  I look out at the inky sky. The sun will set in the next fifteen or twenty minutes.

  “Take a left when we get out of the parking lot,” I reply.

  Griffin follows my directions without questioning me. I find that interesting. I don’t think I’ve dated a guy before who would be so chill about this. It’s a sign of confidence and maturity, and it’s such a fucking turn-on.

  Finally when I tell him to turn on a little street called Bowley, his dark eyes light up. “Are we going to Baker Beach? To watch the sunset?’

  “Yeah.” I hope he doesn’t think it’s cheesy or lame.

  “Awesome,” he says, and I feel at ease again. He parks the car at the end of the lot, which only has three other cars in it. He picks a spot away from them, nose to the ocean, and turns off the engine. “I’ve got a blanket in the back.”

  We get out of the car, and after going into the trunk he comes back with a big gray blanket with Dumbo the elephant all over it. I laugh, and he smiles sheepishly. “It’s Charlie’s, obviously, but we make her watch Sesame Street, so she’ll be okay with sharing.”

  “Ha!” I laugh as he takes the blanket and my hand in his and leads me down to the sand. I kick off my shoes and pick them up, digging my toes deep into the sand.

  He lays out the blanket, and I drop onto it, close my eyes, and take a long, slow inhale of the cool, salty air. I feel the stubble on his chin rub my cheek and then his full, firm lips brush my earlobe. “You’re a beach girl, I can tell.”

  I nod as a shiver of desire rolls down my spine. “I grew up spending summers in Maine. My family has a cottage there. We don’t go anymore because it’s too hard to get my dad there and too hard to go without him. I never seem to find the time to come here.”

  “We should make a point of coming here,” he announces softly, his fingertips dancing along the side of my neck. “I think you have to make a point of it. You look so at peace.”

  I twist my head to look over at him. “I feel at peace. But I think the company has a lot to do with it.”